Headphone Buying Advice

[y2ck01]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to buy a new headset after my last pair died. I'm currently using the Steelseries Arctis 7 as a backup but the sound quality just doesn't feel right.

The use case will be for non competitive immersive gaming and movies with a budget of £200 - £250. What would you recommend?

Thanks.

 

[Straz]

Open or closed? Wireless or wired?

 

[moppy89]

In general, I feel hifiman sundaras are pretty difficult to beat in that price range. But that doesn't include a mic

 

[Delta3D]

I recently folded and bought the Corsair Virtuoso XT's (the ones with Dolby Atmos).

Very impressed with them I can't lie, once you whack a few changes on the Dolby software they sound perfect for a wireless headset.

I spent months looking at headsets back and forth but all I found was every headset has bad reviews... So I just folded and bought the one I liked the sound of most, and it paid off

iCUE software is a bit meh, but you don't need to bother with it once it's setup. Dolby runs through it's own app rather than iCUE. (Although I'm used to iCUE because I have a Corsair keyboard and mouse too..)

 

[y2ck01]

I don't have much need for a microphone so that's fine. Open or closed? Whichever sounds better and wireless would be preferred.

I'll take a look at them both. There are just so many!

 

[Gray2233]

What do you plan on plugging the headphones into?

Unless you need an attached mic, you're almost always better off buying a decent pair of stereo headphones, and even then it's simple enough to add one. The problem being some require a little bit more power to run than is generally offered through onboard audio jacks, although you have a more than healthy budget to pick up something like Beyerdynamic DT990's/Philips Fidelio X2HR/Hifiman H400SE and an amp/dac combo of some sort.

Gaming headsets are usually very poor quality, and the majority that offer "surround sound" do so via software rather than the physical device, you'll get a better result with more traditional headphones. Open back style headphones often work better with this sort of tech, the downside being sound leakage possibly annoying other people in the room, and bass might not stand out as much depending on the set. I've test driven a number of headsets from companies like Corsair and Steelseries, including their higher end models, they're shockingly over priced for the level of quality on offer.

As for wired vs wireless, in 99% of cases you'll take a sound quality hit with wireless.

 

[y2ck01]

Update: Bought the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro's with a BlasterX G6. Very happy with the sound quality. What are the best settings for the Sound Blaster Command?

 

[sgavan]

I have the AE5 and DT 990 and I prefer to have the sound set as direct and set the audio quality high. I also like, depending on the games using DTS which has it's own sound profile, or dolby but can sound muddled.